Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Foll Stones by Brigid Huey Published by Meryton Press on September 22, 2023
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Pages: 189
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon
A land of myth and legends. . .
A world out of balance. . .
And a last hope to heal an ancient pain.Cleona Willow is more than ready for college. Though it means leaving her best friend Brian behind, studying in Ireland is her dream. She longs to explore the land her grandmother knew so well, but leaving Brian is harder than she would like to admit.
Two worlds collide when a necklace left to Cleona by her grandmother magically pulls her and Brian to Terratalam, a world apart from their own—and a world out of balance. It rains nearly every day, the crops barely produce, and kingdoms wage war. The Great Tree, Terratalam’s fabled life force, was destroyed so long ago that only stories and legends remain.
Navigating the secrets of the past and their growing feelings for each other, Cleona and Brian must unite the mythical Foll Stones and heal the land. If they fail, what will become of Terratalam—and what will become of them?
Four magical stones control the destiny of so many lives. On the cusp of going away to college and grieving the loss of a beloved grandmother, a young woman along with her closest friend who secretly crushes on her is whisked magically through a portal to a fantastic other world and embarks on a journey to save their new-found friends and find their way home.
Brigid Huey is an author I’m familiar with for her engaging Austen variation stories so my curiosity was piqued when she recently released a young adult portal fantasy romance. I don’t tend to read much young adult/new adult these days, but I do enjoy a rousing fantasy adventure so I was game to give The Foll Stones a go.
I read through Cleony and Brian’s adventure swiftly. I enjoyed the Celtic Medieval feel to the otherworld setting, the building together of a team of friends who work together against strong odds to find all four elemental magical stones, and the growing tension as the retrieval grows more perilous with each stone until the last conflict.
The build of a relationship that went from strong friendship to more for Cleony and Brian and their growth as a team while working to save Terratalam alongside the banished heir, Wren, and his life mate, Aine’, and a fairy friend, Crispa, had a nice character and sweet romance side to the story. Cleony and Brian definitely feel like the older teens they are, who were dropped into an unlooked for adventure, but I appreciated the layers in their characters.
All in all, this light and sparkling fantasy romance hit the spot and fulfilled my expectations of an adventure in a magical fantasy realm.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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I love portal fantasy, and this sounds really good. Thanks for sharing!
Glad to put it on your radar, Tammy. 🙂
Oh that sounds fun.
They had a fun adventure, Mary. 🙂
I love stories where characters get whisked through a magical portal to another world. 😀
I thought it was great seeing what it was like on the other side of the portal.
I don’t read much YA either, but this does sound fun and imaginative! It does look like you could breeze right through with it only being 183 pages.
Oh yeah, it read pretty fast Rachel and was a lighter fantasy so I could enjoy it on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
This sounds good! I love a good fantasy romance and I like that this one is a shorter read.
I felt the same way, Carole. 🙂
I haven’t read a “Portal fantasy” since maybe Terry Brooks. I will be on the lookout now for some!
And, that brings up an author I really need to try one of these days. 🙂
Great review. This sounds similar to The Wishstones Of Shanara. I loved that series.
I’m unfamiliar with much of the good fantasy stories so I’ll have to look that one up, Laura.
That cover def looks like a movie cover. I thought it was a show or movie when I clicked the link. 😀
Ha, you’re right! It does have that look, Carole.
Sounds like a fun fantasy, new adult maybe? Great review!
The characters are just finishing high school so I guess it could squeak by as new adult. 🙂 Hope you get the chance at it, Lisa.